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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (48-62) vs El Paso Chihuahuas (65-45)

August 2, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (48-62) vs El Paso Chihuahuas (65-45)

Friday, August 2 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #111 - Home Game #56 (20-35)

RHP Jake Woodford (6-6, 4.11) vs LHP Jerry Keel (6-7, 7.85)

BY THE NUMBERS

383 Number of pitches thrown by both the Isotopes and Redbirds during last night's game. The game last 4:07, which made it the second-longest nine-inning game in Redbirds history.

29 Combined runners left on base in last night's game. Redbird pitching stranded 14 runners and held the Isotopes to going 5-for-22 with runners in scoring position. However, the Redbirds offense left 15 runners on base, a season high.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds continue their seven-game homestand with the first of four games against the El Paso Chihuahuas tonight. The Redbirds earned their first three-game sweep of the season with last night's 13-8 victory over the Isotopes. They have now won four consecutive home games, a new season high. Marcell Ozuna reached base safely five times last night, and delivered the decisive blow in the game with his three-run blast in the seventh. Ozuna drove in five runs in the game and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Jake Woodford is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his 21st start of the season. He has made at least 20 starts in each of his four full seasons as a professional. In his last time out on July 26 at Oklahoma City, he took no-decision (4.1 IP, 8 H, 10 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 3 HR, 1 HBP) in the Redbirds' 13-10 victory over the Dodgers. The 10 runs allowed set a career-high and he had allowed 10 runs over his last five starts entering that night. It was also his first start of the season allowing three home runs and he has now allowed at least two home runs in four of his last five starts. Woodford has now allowed nine home runs during that span, compared to allowing seven in his first 15 starts of the season. It was also his shortest start since working 4.0 innings on June 10 at Reno. However, received 12 runs in support and has gotten 25 runs in support over his last two starts. Overall he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his last nine. He is still holding opponents to a .227 (95x419) average, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. Woodford continues to be even stingier against right-handed batters, holding them to just a .193 (48x249) average. That figure is the lowest among Redbirds starters. He also ranks 5th in the PCL with a 4.11 ERA and has allowed one earned run or fewer in eight of his 20 outings. Even with the no-decision, he has still won 16 of his last 28 decisions overall at the Triple-A level. Tonight will be Woodford's first start against the Chihuahuas in his career. The St. Petersburg, Fla., was named to the 2019 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, and was named starter after receiving the most votes among pitchers. He tossed 2.0 scoreless frames in the game on July 10 and fanned two to earn the win. He entered 2019 ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America and he is currently ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

The Chihuahuas are scheduled to start left-hander Jerry Keel in tonight's series opener. The 25-year-old has gone 6-7, 7.85 (96 ER/110.0 IP) in 22 games, 19 starts with El Paso this season. In his last time out on Saturday vs. Las Vegas, Keel suffered the loss (5.2 IP, 9 H, 9 R/ER, 4 BB, 8 SO, 3) in the Chihuahuas' 11-2 defeat to the Aviators. It was his fifth-straight defeat and his second start during that span allowing nine earned runs. He has allowed at least seven hits in six-straight starts and has allowed nine home runs during that span as well. He is in search of his first win since June 18 vs. Oklahoma City. Tonight will be Keel's first start against the Redbirds in his career. In two starts with the San Antonio Missions last season against the Springfield Cardinals at the Double-A level, Keel went 1-1, 8.38 (9 ER/9.2 IP) while yielding an opponent's average of .409 (18x44). Current Redbird Edmundo Sosa went 2-for-3 with a double and strikeout against Keel on May 26. The Palmade, Calif., native is in his fifth professional season and he has spent them all within the San Diego organization.

HISTORY WITH EL PASO: The Redbirds have faced off against the El Paso Chihuahuas every year since 2014. The two teams are tied in the overall series 10-10 and are also tied at this facility 4-4. The Chihuahuas last visited downtown Memphis in 2017, where the Redbirds took three-of-four to claim a series win. The teams met last season at Southwest University Park, where they split a four-game set 2-2.

The two teams have squared off in the postseason once, with the Redbirds coming away victorious in in the 2017 Pacific Coast League Championship. The Redbirds captured their first PCL title since 2009 by winning the series 3-2, winning the finale on the road 3-1. Current Redbird Adolis Garcia went 5-for-20 with three runs scored, a double, a home run and two runs driven in during the series.

This is 22nd-straight year that the Redbirds have faced off against the San Diego Padres' Triple-A affiliate. El Paso has been the Padres' top affiliate since 2014 and Memphis has a 10-10 record during that span. From 1998-2000, the Las Vegas Stars were was the organization's top affiliate, where the Redbirds went 12-8. From 2001-10, the 'Birds went 27-10 against the Portland Beavers and from 2011-13 they went 7-5 against the Tucson Padres. Overall, Memphis is 56-33 against the Padres' Triple-A club.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds scored seven runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to turn a 6-3 deficit into a 13-6 lead on their way to a 13-8 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) Thursday night at AutoZone Park.

Memphis (48-62) swept the Isotopes (45-65) in the three-game series and has won 10 of its last 13 games.

Rehabbing St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and five RBI. He was on base five times including a walk and a hit by pitch. Fellow Cardinal Matt Carpenter, also on an injury rehabilitation assignment, went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI before being lifted.

Harrison Bader, recently optioned by St. Louis, was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored, and he also made a diving catch in the outfield. Randy Arozarena was on base four times and has now reached base in 30-straight starts.

In the decisive sixth inning, the Redbirds sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven times on five hits. They took advantage of four walks in the inning, and the big blow was Ozuna's three-run blast to left-center field. Memphis sent nine more to the dish in the seventh and scored three more times.

In three games with Memphis, Ozuna is 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, a home run, six RBI, three runs scored and two walks.

The game took 4:07 to play, which is the second-long nine-inning game in franchise history. It was two minutes shy of a 4:09 game on June 15, 2013, also against Albuquerque.

ROSTER MOVES: The following roster moves were made prior to last night's game: Harold Arauz was unconditionally release, Daniel Ponce de Leon was optioned by St. Louis and Yadier Molina was assigned for injury rehab.

Arauz departs as the Redbirds' leader for wins this season with seven and overall went 7-2, 5.93 (38 ER/57.2 IP) in 13 games, nine starts.

Ponce de Leon returns from his third Major League stint of the season. He went 1-1, 5.26 (15 ER/25.2 IP) in seven games, four starts during his time with the Cardinals and earned his first career MLB win on July 4 at Seattle in relief.

Molina heads to the Bluff City as he rehabs a strained tendon in his right thumb. This will be the first time since 2004 that Molina will don a Redbirds jersey.

RANDY REPEATS: After slashing .374/.456/.607/1.063 in 28 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in June en route to being named Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month, Randy Arozarena won the award for the second-straight month after posting a slash of .378/.455/.592/1.047 in 26 games in July. Arozarena became the third Redbird in franchise history to hit for the cycle on July 26 at Oklahoma City and accomplished that feat in his first four at-bats and had 12 total multi-hit games in July. He has also reached base safely in his last 30 starts and has 13 multi-hit games during that span.

BIG BIRDS ON THE MEND: A pair of rehabbing St. Louis Cardinals had big games last night to help give the Redbirds their first three-game series sweep of the season. Matt Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a run, double and three RBI and Marcel Ozuna went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, home run and five RBI. Ozuna also reached safely five times in the contest by drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch. Carpenter's two-run single in the sixth cut the Isotopes' lead to 6-5 and Ozuna followed up with a three-run blast to give the 'Birds the lead for good. Carpenters' double in the third also snapped an 0-for-22 stretch to open his rehab assignment.

PULLING AN ALL-NIGHTER: Last night's game against the Albuquerque Isotopes lasted four hours and seven minutes, making it the longest game of the season for the Redbirds. It also became the second-longest nine-inning game in franchise history, falling just two minutes short of matching the record of 4:09, set on June 15, 2013 against the Isotopes at Isotopes Park. It was also the first four-hour game the Redbirds have played in since June 11, 2017 vs. Nashville in a 12-inning affair.

YADI RETURNS: When Yadier Molina takes the field for the first time during his current rehab assignment, he will do so with a Redbirds jersey for the first time since June 1, 2004, which was here at AutoZone Park against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Molina went 1-for-4 in that game. He would make his Major League debut two days later vs. Pittsburgh, going 2-for-4 with a run and a double. From there, the rest is history. Yadi's storied career has seen him turn into one of baseball's all-time greats as he has won two World Series titles, nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves and a Silver Slugger. He has also been named to nine MLB All-Star teams. He has appeared in 1,941 games in a Cardinal uniform and has posted a career slash of .282/.333/.404/.737, collecting 1,918 hits.

A HAT-TRICK FOR THOMAS: In Saturday night's game, Lane Thomas homered three times, launching two solo shots and one two-run blast. He became the eighth Redbird to homer three times in a game, matching a franchise record. He is the first player to accomplish this feat since Adolis Garcia slugged three home runs on July 26, 2018 at Salt Lake.

AROZARENA HITS FOR THE CYCLE: In Friday night's contest, Randy Arozarena became the third Redbird in franchise history to hit for the cycle. He opened up the game with a bunt single, doubled in the third, homered in the fourth and completed the cycle with a triple in the fifth. After an 18-year gap between the first two cycles in franchise history (Mark Little, June 23, 2000; Luke Voit, June 30, 2018), the Redbirds have now had a player hit for the cycle in consecutive years. Arozarena's four-hit game that night was his third such game for the Redbirds this season, which leads the team.

ADOLIS' BIG DAY: On June 21, Adolis Garcia put on an impressive display of power at Werner Park by homering twice and driving in eight runs. His eight RBI matched a franchise record that he also matched last season on July 26 at Salt Lake. In the third inning with two outs, he launched his second grand slam of the season. After homering again in the eighth inning, it was his third game in his last eight that he has homered twice. Garcia ranks T-2nd in the Pacific Coast League with 12 dingers with two outs and T-9th with 29 RBI in similar situations.

CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARDS: In 24 games in July, Adolis Garcia launched eight home runs and drove in 22 runs and posted a slash-line of .237/.283/.570/.853. As result, he has entered and climbed into the Top-10 in several batting categories on the Redbirds all-time lists. His first home run on July 26 moved him into 5th with 44 and his second blast that day moved him just six long balls away from matching Patrick Wisdom for 4th. His three RBI on July 25 moved him to 10th place at 155. He also ranks T-5th in triples (11), T-7th in strikeouts (263), 8th in hit by pitches (16) and 8th in extra-base hits (112).

LET'S GET IT STARTED: Redbirds players batting first in the order this season are hitting .321 overall, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. They also rank 2nd in hits (148), T-3rd in OBP (.385), T-5th in OPS (.897) and 5th in SLG (.512). Randy Arozarena leads the Redbirds with a .388 average when batting first in the order.

WOODFORD SHINES IN EL PASO: Jake Woodford tossed 2.0 perfect innings to start the 2019 Triple-A All-Star Game and earned the win in the Pacific Coast League All-Stars' 9-3 win over the International League All-Stars on July 10. Woodford fanned two batters and three of the other four outs were recorded via ground-outs. He was the sixth Redbirds pitcher to start the All-Star Game and second-straight to earn the honor.

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